14032019-btd-01.qxd 3/13/2019 11:05 PM Page 1 c m y b Bathinda TRIBUNE FARMERS GHERAO OFFICE OF CHIEF AGRICULTURE OFFICER PAGE 2 Farmers under the banner of BKU Dakonda gherao Chief Agriculture Officer’s office on the Dabwali road FORECAST RAIN LIKELY INBRIEF HABIT-FORMING DRUGS SEIZED Bathinda: A man was arrested with 15,000 habit-forming drugs at Gill Kalan village. Police officer Baljitpal said accused Rajinder Kumar of the same village was arrested during a checking drive at the village. He said as many as 15,000 habit-forming drugs were recovered from him. He added that his associate Darshan Singh of Rampura Phul managed to escape from the spot. A case under various sections of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at the Rampura Sadar police station. TNS FUEL PRICES PETROL ~72.27 DIESEL ~66.21 WHAT’S ON BATHINDA FARMERS’ PROTEST: Protest by BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) on Day 3 outside Co-operative Bank near Children’s Park. AKSHAY, AYUSHMANN REQUEST PEOPLE TO VOTE ON PM’S BEHEST PAGE 3 Akshay Kumar and Ayushmann Khurrana, on PM’s behest, have urged people to cast their vote in LS pollls. MAX 21°C | MIN 12°C | YESTERDAY MAX 24°C | MIN 11°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6:37 PM THURSDAY | 14 MARCH 2019 | BATHINDA Typists, vend owners sit on dharna Demand from admn to provide site to resume work Arms licence:Over7KunderwentdopeexaminationatCivilHospitalinayear Sameer Singh Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 13 The Civil Hospital has witnessed a sizeable number of persons appearing for dope tests to get the arms licence or renew it in the past one year. The Public Health System Corporation (PHSC) had made it mandatory to undergo the dope tests from January 25, 2018, to get the arms licence. According to the records of the district Health Department, a total of 7,009 people have undergone the dope tests at the Civil Hospital in one year. With this, the department has garnered revenue of over ~1 crore (~1,05,62,000) from the fee of the dope tests during the same period. The fee is ~1,500 per applicant. FIGURES ■ Till December 2018, the district Health Department had collected ~73 lakh from the fee of the dope tests. In 2019, as many as 2,134 persons have undergone the dope tests and the Health Department has got a revenue of over ~32,01,000 from the fee. ■ The Health Department had started conducting the dope tests of arms licence seekers and those applying for its renewal from January 25 last year. Till December 2018, the district Health Department had collected ~73 lakh from the fee of the dope tests. In 2019, as many as 2,134 persons have undergone the dope tests and the Health Department has got revenue of over ~32,01,000 from the fee. The lab technician at the Civil Hospital said there was not much decline in the number of arms licence applicants undergoing the dope tests at the hospital. He said sometimes 40 to 50 applicants turn up on a single day while there are days when only 8 to 10 applicants undergo the dope tests. The Health Department had started conducting the dope tests of arms licence seekers and those applying for its renewal from January 25 last year. Initially, the fee of the dope tests was ~500. In February, it was increased to ~800. Later, on the directions of the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, the fee was again increased to ~1,500 on April 19, 2018. A total of 30 dope tests are conducted at the government hospital on a daily basis. A senior official of the Health Department said the money earned from the dope tests would be utilised to complete the pending development works and improve medical services at the hospital. Interestingly, in April 2018, the fee of the dope tests was increased from ~800 to ~1,500. The department had also increased the number of intoxicants for which the applicants would be screened from the existing five to 10. From April 19, 2018, the applicants were screened for morphine, codeine, D propoxyphene, benzodiazepines, 9-tetra hydro cannabinol (THC), barbiturates, cocaine, amphetamines, buprenorphine and tramadol. Child falls into drain, dies Bathinda, March 13 A two-and-a-half-year-old child died after falling into an open drain at Veer Nagar in Mansa on Tuesday evening. The deceased has been identified as Mangu. Family members got to know about the incident in the evening. According to information, the child was playing outside his house and suddenly, he fell into the open drain, which was close to his house. Unfortunately, no one came to know about the incident. Child’s father Bunty Kumar said after sometime when they did not find Mangu in the house, they started looking for him outside. He said later, a child told themthat Mangu was lying in the drain and thereafter, they took him out of it. But, till then Mangu had died, he said. Mansa MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia and MC chief Mandeep Singh Gora expressed their condolences. — TNS The overcast sky at sunset in Bathinda on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PAWAN SHARMA Anganwadi workers Reduction in probation period seek regular jobs fails to placate some teachers Bathinda, March 13 A delegation of the All Punjab Anganwadi Workers’ Union met District Programme Officer, Department of Social Security and Development of Women and Children, Amarjit Singh at the District Administrative Complex here on Wednesday. Members of the delegation discussed their demands, including regularisation of their services and hike in the salary, with the District Programme Officer. Hargobind Kaur, president of the union, said, “Anganwadi centres have been facing a shortage of ration for the past eight PAGE 4 Payal Ghosh is coming up with app that deals with mental health issues. She experienced a nervous breakdown. SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:40 AM Dope test fee: Dist Health Dept earns over ~1 crore Colours of nature Tribune News Service PAYAL GHOSH TO COME UP WITH APP ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES Hike in salaries among major demands months. Anganwadi workers and helpers are getting their salaries on time. We have been demanding regularisation of our services for a long time, but nothing has been done. We have also demanded an increase in our salaries, but to no avail.” The District Programme Officer assured them that the ration would be provided in two weeks. Regarding the salaries, the officer said he had sought a budget for their salaries and as soon as the funds were received, the salaries would be paid. have been facing a ❝Anganwadi centres months. Anganwadishortage of ration for the past eight workers and helpers are getting their salaries on time. We have been demanding regularisation of our services for a long time, but nothing has been done. We have also demanded an increase in our salaries, but to no avail. ❞ Hargobind Kaur, PRESIDENT, ANGANWADI WORKERS’ UNION Sameer Singh Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 13 The state government’s decision to reduce the probation period of teachers from three years to two years with a pay cut has barely managed to placate a section of contractual teachers in the district. Last week, the Cabinet had approved regularisation of services of 5,178 master cadre teachers’ with full pay scale, which will come into effect from October 1, 2019. Sources in the Education Department said teachers recruited under 5178 master cadre had already completed their contractual period after working for three years from November 2014 to November 2017, but the state government kept stalling the regularisation process citing one reason or the other. Later, when members of various teacher unions resorted to a protest spree, the government promised the 5178 master cadre teachers to regularise their services from January 2019. The move is aimed at placating the teachers. Sources said with the passage of time, the government did not regularise their services and now, it has reduced the probation period. Even after working for four years on contract, 5178 master cadre teachers have to continue to work on the probation period for another two years. Of the 5,178 category teachers, 5,078 were recruited in the master cadre and 100 were hired as classical and vernacular (C&V) teachers in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Teachers under master cadre are currently paid ~7,500 per month and their salary would now be fixed at minimum grade pay of ~15,300 per month till the time they are given full scale after the end of the probation period. c m y b Resham Singh, a member of the Democratic Teachers’ Front, said, “It is a ploy by the state government and those, who did not accede to it, had to face problems one way or the other. Many teachers had accepted the offer giving in to the pressure weighed upon by the department. Otherwise, why would teachers agree to be regularised when their salaries have been decreased from ~42,000 to ~15,300 now.” “Random transfer orders and evaluations under Padho Punjab, Padhao Punjab project were some of the tactics used by the department to suppress the voice of dissent of teachers. Those, who tried to diverge or did not comply with the regularisation offer, had to face tough times. But there are still some teachers who have decided to hold the fort and did not give-in to the ploy of the Education Department,” he added. Shop, vend owners and typists stage a dharna in Bathinda on Wednesday. PHOTO: VIJAY KUMAR ANTI-ENCROACHMENT DRIVE Tribune News Service Bathinda, March 13 Shop owners, typists and notary operators, along with their family members, sat on a dharna outside the District Courts Complex here where the MC had removed more than 100 vends, shops and makeshift offices of advocates during an anti-encroachment drive on Sunday. The vend owners have demanded from the administration to provide a site so that they could resume their work. They reached outside the District Courts Complex in the morning and started clearing the debris before laying mats on the bare floor at the site. To express their resentment, the vend owners decided to sit on an indefinite dharna outside the courts complex. Darshan Singh, whose makeshift eating joint was removed during the antiencroachment drive, said, “I have no source of income now and the lone source of income that I had has gone forever. Leave aside providing jobs, the government has demolished our shops which we had built after savings our hard-earned money. With barely any savings left now, how will I feed my children and family members? How will I meet their basic needs?” “If the administration wanted to remove our vends then it should have informed us in advance so that we could at least shift our articles and furniture. Apart from losing our source of earning, we could not find our essential goods after the drive,” he added. Punya Devi, a protester, said, “We have decided to sit on a dharna and continue it until the administration provide us compensation and a location from where we can start operating our vends again.” Ajit Singh, executive member of the Typewriters Association of Bathinda, said, “Even if the administration cannot pay us compensation for the damages caused due to the antiencroachment drive, it must provide us a location from where we can start our work again. We have met the district president of the Congress and Jaijeet Singh Johal and brother-in-law of Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal. We have also submitted a memorandum of demands to them. They have assured us that a possible solution would be worked out.” Notably, the MC and the PWD (B&R) had jointly carried out an anti-encroachment drive outside the District Courts Complex and removed more than 100 shops, vends, makeshift offices of typists, advocates and notary operators on Sunday. Following which the vend owners and advocates had staged a protest against the administration on Monday.

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